rhubarb wine

[Gardenwitch]

Gave my local homebrew shop owners a bottle of this for all thier help during the process and they had the bottle last night. I was so pleased when they said I made a great wine even better than the store owner had; and for my first effort! PS. his wife also got a bit hammered by it as it was so easy to sip down So all those that are hesitant MAKE THIS ONE its divineand a nice wine.

[Gardenwitch]

ok silly probably but i had some extra that didnt get into a bottle and left it in DJ so I have found that mixing it with fizzy lemonade is supreme! Bring on the hot summers and glasses of wine

[Gardenwitch]

Wine bottled, lovley 6 of them corked and mellowing. Had a sip today and at first off its a bit bitter/sour but then it gets smoother with a lovely gentle and refreshing aftertaste! Could see this with a bunch of fresh mint in teh glass too. So hope will taste even better after a few more months being bottled off and its the palest of pale pink colors, soooo pretty

[Gardenwitch]

ok my DJ of wine is now cleared as I can read the book titles on my kitchen counter through the DJ now SO off to bottle up today with fab bottles that already have tha corks attached to them, easy peasy yeah! I'm also interested in tasting some today to see if the flavour is a bit more mellow now, if not then i'll taste again near xmas time and hope its ok for prezzies Thanks for all the fab help along the way, you guys are great!

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'd add a bit more sugar (2oz, say) - as it's still in the dj it won't matter if it starts to ferment again, and if it doesn't the wine will be a bit sweeter.

[Gardenwitch]

humm i think i'll just keep it a few months and see if it mellows with time

[Hilary B]

Is there a way to sweeten the wine now that its done fermenting? Its still very acidic to me. I've already cleared the gunk out and have it sitting in a DJ to clear.

If you add sugar, it may or may not start fermenting again (unless you use a campden tablet to kill off the yeast. I don't like the things, some people use them happily) and if it starts fermenting in the bottle, that can get exciting.....
You can use artificial sweeteners (another option that has never appealed to me) or there is sorbitol, which comes in between. It is the sugar substitute used in diabetic foods (or used to be).
Or you can use your rather acid rhubarb wine to blend with over-sweet other wines. Apparently it works well, but I've never had any spare to try....

[Gardenwitch]

Is there a way to sweeten the wine now that its done fermenting? Its still very acidic to me. I've already cleared the gunk out and have it sitting in a DJ to clear.

[Gardenwitch]

ah what a nutter i am that does make perfect sense; at least i can explain it to OH

[Hilary B]

ok good to know but can i ask a really silly question? why do yo need to place in DJ to clear? Why cant you just bottle it up and then let it clear in its bottle?

Because if you open the bottle when it has been done that way, you need to pour the whole bottle in one go. Every time you tip the bottle back to upright (eg between glassfuls) the bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottle gets stirred up!

[Gardenwitch]

ok good to know but can i ask a really silly question? why do yo need to place in DJ to clear? Why cant you just bottle it up and then let it clear in its bottle?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Ok Hazel I have gunky stuff in the bottom of my DJ, so got some syphon hose today and need to get another DJ tommorrow when the shop opens. The color is the most amazingly soft "candy floss" looking pink wine, I have to say I'm well pleased right now. At this rate I'll have xmas prezzies this year for people too.

It sounds lovely!

You can always syphon it into your bucket that you started it all off in, then clean the dj and use a funnel to pour it from the bucket back into the dj (have a taste during this step, obviously ). Saves buying another dj.

Do the same when it's clear enough to bottle, then use the funnel into your bottles. This will be one million times less messy than trying to syphon from the dj straight into bottles. I speak from experience and pass on Flummery's most excellent advice.

[Gardenwitch]

Ok Hazel I have gunky stuff in the bottom of my DJ, so got some syphon hose today and need to get another DJ tommorrow when the shop opens. The color is the most amazingly soft "candy floss" looking pink wine, I have to say I'm well pleased right now. At this rate I'll have xmas prezzies this year for people too.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Fantastic news! Ok i will look out for gunky stuff at bottom then. When you replace into a DJ without the gunk how long does it take to clear roughly before you can bottle it up? Just want a rough guideline is all. Thanks so much for the advice, cheers

I started a batch of in mid April, racked the gunk off on 7th May, and it's pretty much ready to bottle now.

BUT each batch behaves that bit differently (e.g. the current batch is quite orange in colour, and of the two batches I made last year, the first was very rose, and the second more like a white wine, and drier too) so don't worry if yours takes longer/shorter!

[Gardenwitch]

That sounds about right, Witch - it will soon start to clear, so leave it well alone till it has a definite layer of gunk in the bottom of the dj, then syphon off the wine into a bucket (leaving the gunk behind) - it doesn't matter if it isn't clear at this point, you're just getting the dead yeast deposits out of the way.

Rinse the gunk out the dj, re-steralise, then put the wine back int the clean dj, fit the airlock to stop stray nasties getting in, then leave it to completely clear again and then you can bottle it.[/QUOTE]

**Fantastic news! Ok i will look out for gunky stuff at bottom then. When you replace into a DJ without the gunk how long does it take to clear roughly before you can bottle it up? Just want a rough guideline is all. Thanks so much for the advice, cheers